JP2002115232A - Beach cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a beach cleaner which is small in size, light in weight, low in cost, easily carries out trash collection, dispenses with most of maintenance, and achieves efficient collection of relatively small pieces of trash such as cigarette butts mixed in sand. SOLUTION: The beach cleaner is towed by a tow car 2 and travels on sandy soil, to thereby collect trash such as empty cans scattered in the sandy soil. The beach cleaner is comprised of a traveling body 4 including a plurality of stringers 7 which are arranged side by side in a width direction at intervals like a grating, and a towed section to be pulled by the tow car 2, at a front portion of the traveling body. The traveling body has a planar scraper 15 attached to the front portion thereof, for raking up trash together with sand during traveling thereof. Further, the traveling body has a net 16 arranged on an upper surface thereof, for separating the trash out of the raked sand and trash by the scraper, and storing the trash.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a beach cleaner for collecting waste such as empty cans scattered on a sandy beach.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a beach cleaner for collecting trash such as ropes, driftwood, empty cans, cigarette butts, and paper waste scattered on a sandy beach such as a beach, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
Japanese Patent No. 138203 is known. The beach cleaner described in the above-mentioned publication is a so-called self-propelled type having a traveling unit integrally with the fuselage. The sand and the sand are separated while being conveyed by a conveyor such as a belt conveyor, and only the separated garbage is collected by a garbage collection unit provided at the rear of the vehicle body.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional beach cleaner has the following problems. That is,
The above-mentioned conventional beach cleaner is a self-propelled type having a traveling unit integrally with the fuselage, and furthermore, a scooping unit that scoops trash and the like to the fuselage, a transport unit that transports the scooped trash and the like, and There is a problem that the entire structure of the apparatus is complicated and large in size because of the provision of the collection section for collecting garbage. In addition, there is also a problem that the weight increases and the price increases. Further, as described above, there has been a problem that the maintenance work is difficult to perform because the overall structure of the apparatus is complicated and large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a beach cleaner which is small and lightweight, can easily collect trash, is inexpensive, and requires almost no maintenance work. Is to do. It is another object of the present invention to provide a beach cleaner capable of efficiently collecting relatively small trash such as cigarette butts mixed in sand.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 uses a beach cleaner which is driven by a towing vehicle and travels on sand, and collects trash such as empty cans to be scattered on the sand. A plurality of longitudinal members extending in the traveling direction are arranged in a slender shape at intervals in the width direction and have a towed portion pulled by the towing vehicle at a front portion, and carry garbage collected during traveling. Equipped with a traveling body,
At the front of the traveling body, a flat scraper for scraping dust together with sand during traveling is provided so as to cross the traveling body. In the beach cleaner of the present invention, since the flat scraper is provided at the front of the traveling body so as to cross the traveling body, when the traveling body is towed along the sand surface at a predetermined speed by the towing vehicle, The scraper scrapes up the trash together with the sand. As described above, the sand and the dust can be scraped together without using any special power, and the dust may be selectively recovered by appropriate means behind the sand.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a net is provided on an upper surface of the traveling body for separating and storing dirt from sand and dust scraped up by the scraper. Features. In the beach cleaner according to the invention, the sand and dust scraped up by the scraper are transferred to a net provided on the upper surface of the traveling body. Since the traveling body vibrates finely during traveling, the net also vibrates finely, so only sand of the garbage and sand falls downward through the mesh, and eventually only the garbage remains on the net and is separated. You.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first or second aspect, an inclined portion that becomes higher as it goes forward is provided at a front portion of the traveling body. In the above-described beach cleaner, the inclined portion is provided at the front portion of the traveling body, so that the inclined portion reduces traveling resistance during traveling.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the rear portion of the traveling body is provided with an inclined portion that becomes higher as it goes rearward. In the beach cleaner of the present invention, even when the traveling body vibrates finely during traveling, it is possible to prevent dust collected by the net from falling from the rear part of the traveling body.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A beach cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view of the beach cleaner, FIG. 2 is a side view of the beach cleaner, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the beach cleaner. The beach cleaner 1 shown here is towed by a towing vehicle 2 such as a three- or four-wheel buggy or tractor for traveling on uneven terrain, travels on sand, and collects dust such as empty cans to be scattered on the sand. It is.

The beach cleaner 1 has a substantially quadrangular shape in a plan view, and is mainly composed of a traveling body 4 that travels by being pulled by a towed vehicle 2 on a towed portion 3 provided at a front portion (see FIG. 1). 2 and 3).

The traveling body 4 is in a state where a plurality of vertical members 7 extending in the traveling direction are attached to the outer frame 6 by fixing means such as welding inside an outer frame 6 assembled in a quadrangular shape in plan view. , And are arranged in the shape of a mushroom at intervals in the width direction. The outer frame 6 and the vertical member 7 may be made of a stainless steel pipe material, or may be made of a pipe material whose surface is rust-proofed, a solid rod or square material.

Here, the width dimension Wa of the traveling body 4 is set to be larger than the width dimension Wb of the towing vehicle 2 including the tires, and is set to a value not exceeding at most twice the same width dimension Wb. I have. The length L of the traveling body 4 is set to be substantially equal to the width Wa of the traveling body. The reason why the width Wa of the traveling body 4 is set to be larger than the width Wb of the towing vehicle 2 is because of a relationship with the garbage station 22 described later. The reason why the width Wa of the traveling body 4 is set to a value not exceeding twice the width dimension Wb of the towing vehicle is that if it is too large, the running resistance increases, and there is a possibility that the towing at a proper speed may not be performed. is there. For the same reason, the length L of the traveling body 4 is not set too long.

Further, the width dimension Wc of the vertical member 7 of the traveling body 4
Is set to be at least larger than the diameter of the beverage can. Specifically, the width dimension Wc of the vertical member 7 is 5 cm to 10 cm.
cm.

At the front of the traveling body 4, there is formed an inclined portion 9 which becomes higher toward the front. A flat plate 10 for reducing running resistance is attached to the left and right sides of the inclined portion 9 by appropriate fixing means such as welding so as to straddle the vertical member 7. On the other hand, an inclined portion 11 that becomes higher rearward is also formed at the rear portion of the traveling body 4.

A plurality of pin members 13 are staggered on the outer frame 6 and the vertical member 7 of the traveling body 4 so as to protrude downward and as shown in FIG. It is arranged and attached in a shape. Each of the pin members 13 is reinforced in a tapered shape forming a triangular shape in a side view so that the rear side in the running direction is narrowed downward by a reinforcing member 14.

At the front of the traveling body 4, a scraper 15 for scraping up sand during traveling is mounted at a position slightly behind the inclined portion 9 on the front side of the traveling body 4 so as to cross the traveling body 4. I have. The scraper 15 has a flat shape and is attached between the outer frame 6 and the vertical members 7 and between the vertical members 7 by fixing means such as welding so that the mounting angle with respect to the horizontal plane is 30 to 60 degrees. The action of scraping up the sand is performed not only by the scraper 15 but also by the pin member 13.

A net 16 for storing collected dust is attached to the rear of the upper surface of the traveling body 4. Net 16
Is detachably attached so that the front end extends rearward of the scraper 15 and extends from there to near the rear end of the rear inclined portion 11. The reason for making it detachable is the first
This is because it becomes unnecessary when the garbage collection method at the stage is performed, and is thus removed. The net 16 is for placing a mixture of dust and sand scraped up by the scraper 15 during traveling on its upper surface, separating the dust by dropping only the sand through the mesh, and leaving the separated dust on the upper surface as it is. It is. Therefore, the size of the mesh should be such that the sand is dropped but garbage such as cigarette butt is not passed through. A plurality of meshes 16 having different mesh sizes may be prepared in advance, and one of them may be selected and used depending on the type of sand. In addition, a space 16a is formed below the net 16 so that sand can be smoothly discharged from the mesh by the space 16a.

A rotator 17 is detachably attached to the rear of the traveling body 4 at a position slightly lower than the front end of the inclined portion 11 on the rear side. The rotating body 17
Horizontal shaft 1 rotatably supported on outer frame 6 via bearings
8 and blades 19 provided on the horizontal shaft 18 at predetermined intervals along the axial direction of the horizontal shaft 18 so as to extend radially outward. The length of the blades 19 is set so that the traveling body 4 can slightly touch the surface of the sand when the ground is in contact with the ground. During the traveling, the rotating body 17 is rotated by the tip of the blades 19 contacting the surface of the sand. It has become so.

Arms 20 are provided on both left and right sides of the traveling body 4 so as to project sideways. A total of four arm portions 20 are provided on each of the left and right sides, and the height thereof is set to a predetermined value. The garbage station 22 (the garbage collection point) where the traveling body 4 is assembled at a predetermined location on the sandy ground is provided. 5), the arm 2
When the vehicle 0 runs on the left and right central flat portions 25 constituting the garbage station 22, the traveling body 4 is lifted upward.

Here, the garbage station 22 is composed of a pair of left and right pipe members 23 and 24 formed in a predetermined shape (see FIG. 1). Those pipe materials 23, 2
Numeral 4 has a central flat portion 25 and slope portions 26 before and after the central flat portion 25. The central flat portion 25 is held at a predetermined height by supporting a plurality of portions with legs 27. I have. These garbage stations 22
The left and right pipe members 23 and 24 may be integrally formed, respectively, or may be of an assembling type that is divided into a plurality of parts and integrally assembled on site.

Next, the operation of the above-structured beach cleaner will be described. The beach cleaner 1 is transported to a site such as a beach where the garbage is to be collected from now on. 1 is run on the sand surface at a constant speed. Garbage collection methods using the beach cleaner 1 are roughly classified into two methods.

One is a method in which the beach cleaner 1 is run at a relatively low speed as shown in FIG. 2 and the pin members 13 are mainly used like a bear to collect and collect dust (first stage). Garbage collection method). The other is, as shown in FIG. 7, the beach cleaner 1 is driven at a relatively high speed, scraps and dust are scraped up by a scraper 15, and a cigarette butt is provided by a net 16 provided at a rear portion of the running body 4. (A second-stage garbage collection method). Usually, the first-stage refuse collection method precedes.

The common beach cleaner 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 may be used when performing the first-stage garbage collection method and when performing the second-stage garbage collection method.
The cleaning may be performed by using dedicated beach cleaners 1A and 1B for performing the first and second-stage garbage collection methods, respectively.

More specifically, the former first-stage garbage collection method will be described. With the net 16 removed, the beach cleaner 1 is operated at a low speed (for example, 10 km / h to 15 km).
m / h), the pin member 13 is made to penetrate relatively deeply into the sandy ground, and is run while excavating the sandy ground. Here, a supplementary description of the beach cleaner 1A dedicated for performing the first-stage garbage collection method shown in FIG. 5 is as follows. This beach cleaner 1A is different from the common beach cleaner 1 in that there is no scraper 15, 16 is missing.

As described above, the beach cleaner 1 (1)
When A) is run at a low speed, long garbage such as a rope or a net buried in the surface of the sand or in the sand is caught by the pin member 13 and is dragged by the pin member 13 as it is. Carried by. In addition, when there is relatively large dust such as driftwood or stone on the sand ground, the dust cannot pass between the pin members 13 and a plurality of pin It is carried by the traveling body 4 while being pushed by the member 13 or in a state of being entangled between the pin members 13.

On the other hand, relatively small debris such as empty cans do not catch on the pin members 13 but pass between the pin members 13 and remain on the sand surface. In addition, some garbage such as plastic bottles and empty cans pass between the vertical members 7 and reach the upper side of the vertical members 7.

When the dust reaching the upper side of the vertical member 7, that is, the upper side of the traveling body 4 accumulates to some extent, the rotating body 17, which is usually rotating while contacting the tip of the blade 19 with the sand surface, is driven by the blade 17. As a result, the driver who is driving the towing vehicle 2 or the worker at the garbage station knows that a certain amount of garbage has accumulated on the traveling body 4. That is, the rotating body 17 functions as a sensor for determining whether a fixed amount of dust is accumulated on the traveling body 4. Also,
When the beach cleaner 1 is run at a low speed as described above, there is also an advantage that the sand is softened by the pin member 13 digging up the sand.

When the beach cleaner 1 is run for a certain length and the amount of dust caught on the pin member 13 exceeds a predetermined amount, or when the rotating body 17 does not rotate, the beach cleaner 1 is moved to the dust station 22. Attach to That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the towing vehicle 2 passes between the pair of pipe members 23 and 24 and stops at a predetermined position in front of the pair of pipe members 23 and 24. At this time, the left and right arms 20 projecting to the side of the beach cleaner 1 ride on the slopes 26 of the pipe members 23 and 24, and reach the central flat portion 25 while gradually rising. When the arm 20 reaches the central flat portion 25 of the pipe members 23, 24, the arm 20
The traveling body 4 is lifted up by the garbage station 22 via. At this time, the lower end of the pin member 13 separates from the sandy surface.

Then, the long dust that has been caught on the pin member 13 falls down by its own weight.
Also, relatively large dust such as driftwood remains on the spot because the pin member 13 is separated from the sandy surface. By running the beach cleaner 1 on the sand at a relatively low speed in this way, relatively long trash such as wires, nets and strings, and relatively large trash such as driftwood are collected at the trash station without relying on humans. can do. Further, dust on the traveling body 4 is manually removed.

Next, the latter second-stage refuse collection method will be described. In this method, the beach cleaner 1, 1
B is driven at a high speed (for example, 30 km / h to 35 km / h). Here, a supplementary description of the dedicated beach cleaner 1B for performing the second-stage garbage collection method shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 will be described. The difference between the beach cleaner 1B and the common beach cleaner 1 is that
Are small, and the rotating body 17 is not provided.
The pin members 13 are provided in a row at substantially the center of the traveling body 4 side by side.
The sand is scraped diagonally upward and rearward by the scraper 3 and the scraper 15 at the rear thereof. A row of pin members 13 is provided in front of the rear inclined portion 11, and the pin members 13 are provided at substantially the center of the traveling body 4 during traveling.
This is for canceling the running body 4 from receiving the moment M and trying to rotate when the sand is scraped up by the sand 3.

When the beach cleaner 1 (1B) is run at a high speed as described above, the beach cleaner 1 (1B) at the previous stage is driven.
The sand forming the surface layer of the sand as shown in FIG. 7 (a) is scraped up by the pin member 13 and the scraper 15 in combination with the fact that the surface of the sand becomes less soft during the traveling of (1A). Are transferred onto the net 16 at the rear of the vehicle while forming a constant flow as if it were a fluid. The sand forming the surface layer of the sandy ground contains relatively small garbage such as cigarette butts, plastic bottles, plastic bottle lids, empty cans, paper waste, etc., and these garbage are also deposited on the net 16 together with the sand. Moved.

The dust 16 and the sand transferred onto the net 16 are finely vibrated because the net 16 is traveling, and only the sand of the dust and the sand falls downward through the mesh and the traveling speed. Is the sand that has been vigorously scraped
Since it reaches the upright portion on the rear side and attempts to pass through the mesh by itself, only the dust remains on the net 16 and is separated. That is, it is possible to collect relatively small dust such as cigarette butts, plastic bottles, plastic bottle lids, and the like mixed in the sand of the surface layer of the sandy ground.

When a certain amount of garbage is collected on the net 16, the driver returns to the garbage station 22. In the garbage station 22, a driver or an operator removes garbage collected on the net 16 using a broom or the like.
As described above, by repeating the first and second stages of the garbage collection method, all the long garbage, relatively large garbage, and relatively small garbage scattered on the sandy beach can be collected. You can do it.

The length of the pin member 13 is different between when the first-stage dust collection method is performed and when the second-stage dust collection method is performed, and when the second-stage dust collection is performed. It is more preferable to use a pin member 13 having a shorter length. This is because, when the second-stage dust collection method is performed, the scraper 1 is more effective than the pin member 13 for catching dust embedded in sand.
This is because the action of scraping up more sand by 5 takes precedence, and in order to make the traveling body 4 travel at high speed, the traveling resistance is made as small as possible.

It should be noted that the pin member 13 may be configured so that the amount of downward projection can be freely adjusted by length adjusting means such as a screw mechanism. In this case, when performing the second-stage dust collection method, The pin member 13 is used with a shorter length than when performing the one-stage dust collection method. Further, the vertical members 7 may be configured to be detachable, and when the running resistance becomes too large, some of the vertical members 7 may be removed to perform the operation.

[0036]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the vehicle is of a type towed by a towing vehicle, which has no power and does not have a transportation means for transporting dust and the like, thereby simplifying the entire configuration. Accordingly, the size and weight can be reduced, and the maintenance work can be eliminated at low cost. In addition, since a flat scraper is provided at the front of the traveling body so as to cross the traveling body, when the traveling body is towed along the sand surface at a predetermined speed by the towing vehicle,
The scraper scrapes up the garbage together with the sand, and by collecting only the garbage behind the scraper by appropriate means, it is possible to efficiently collect relatively small garbage such as cigarette butts mixed in the sand. .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, only the trash can be separated from the sand and the trash scraped up by the scraper, and only the trash can be collected without using any special power. Can be.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the inclined portion is provided at the front portion of the traveling body, the inclined portion reduces traveling resistance during traveling. Therefore, even a towing vehicle having a relatively small traction force can tow the traveling body at a certain speed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, even when the traveling body vibrates finely during traveling, it is possible to prevent the dust collected by the net from falling from the rear part of the traveling body.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a beach cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the beach cleaner.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the beach cleaner.

FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating a garbage collection method using the beach cleaner.

FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating a garbage collection method using a beach cleaner according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a beach cleaner according to still another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating a garbage collection method using the beach cleaner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1A, 1B Beach cleaner 2 Traction vehicle 3 Towed part 4 Running body 6 Outer frame 7 Vertical member 9 Inclined part 11 Inclined part 13 Pin member 14 Reinforcement material 15 Scraper 16 Net 17 Rotating body 20 Arm part 22 Garbage station 25 Center Flat part

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Yoshinobu Itani 1-4-1 Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama Pref. Inside of Honda R & D Co., Ltd. (72) Yasuji Hashimoto 1-4-1 Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama No. Inside Honda R & D Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takashi Shinozaki 1-4-1 Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama F-term inside Honda R & D Co., Ltd. 2D026 EA00 4D021 AA03 AB02 AC01 BA01 BA18 CA01 EA10 EB00

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A beach cleaner which is driven by a towing vehicle and travels on sand, and collects dust such as empty cans to be scattered on the sand, wherein a plurality of vertical members extending in the traveling direction are spaced apart from each other in the width direction. It has a towed portion which is arranged in a muzzle shape and has a towed portion pulled by the towing vehicle at a front portion, and has a running body for carrying garbage collected during running, and a running portion at a front portion of the running body. A beach cleaner characterized by having a flat scraper for scraping up garbage with sand along the running body. 2. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein a net is provided on an upper surface of the traveling body for separating and storing dirt from sand and dirt scraped up by the scraper. 3. The beach cleaner according to claim 1, wherein an inclined portion that becomes higher toward the front is provided at a front portion of the traveling body. 4. The beach cleaner according to claim 2, wherein an inclined portion that becomes higher rearward is provided at a rear portion of the traveling body.